Rift S vs Valve Index

theVenerable

theVenerable

Registered
Hi
It seems the Valve Index is a better headset but needs more GPU horsepower. So I wondered which one works best for rFactor2 when using a medium to high spec laptop (rtx 2070).
Or perhaps another headset would be recommended?
Thanks!
 
I have the index and it’s great. The biggest delta are the visuals and the sound. The speaker tube on the rift s was deal breaker for me.

I can run the index at 80 or 90fps depending upon settings. 120fps is only possible in iracing because they use SPS. Everywhere else it’s just too demanding unless you sacrifice a lot of visuals.
 
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I'm looking into VR too, in my opinion, for Driving purpose, refresh rate IS a factor, just like it is on a monitor setup. Having said so, it is true that today you can't push 120 Hz out of the Index with current GPU and Software except as mentioned above, but things may vary in the upcoming years and I think that considering the cost, if you buy index you plan to use it for quite some time.
p.s. Just for the sake of talking, as a Flight sim user, my headset of choice at the moment is HP reverb, 90 Hz and higher resolution : 90 Hz for driving (coming from a 60 Hz monitor is a good step up) and higher res for flying.
 
For my $ the Rift S is easily best value with excellent visuals plus superior comfort, byo headphones, I have HyperX Cloud II's. All early bugs fixed and inside-out tracking is now on par with outside in-systems.
 
I have upgraded from the rift S to the index purely for the adjustable IPD which made a good difference for me in terms of clarity. The other unintentional upgrade was the larger FOV with the index. it was apparent when I moved to it that it was reasonably larger.

I used the rift S for the first time in weeks since getting the index. I gave it to the kids and while going from the rift to index I could tell it was A larger FOV - going back to the rift S after using the index for a while it is like night and day, the extra FOV seems huge when I try the rift S again. I could get used to it but wouldnt want to go back to the S's smaller view.
 
metalnwood said:
I have upgraded from the rift S to the index purely for the adjustable IPD which made a good difference for me in terms of clarity. The other unintentional upgrade was the larger FOV with the index. it was apparent when I moved to it that it was reasonably larger.

I used the rift S for the first time in weeks since getting the index. I gave it to the kids and while going from the rift to index I could tell it was A larger FOV - going back to the rift S after using the index for a while it is like night and day, the extra FOV seems huge when I try the rift S again. I could get used to it but wouldnt want to go back to the S's smaller view.
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What about visuals between the two? Is there much difference? Or is fov on the Index the only main advantage? Thanks :)
 
@MarcG Sorry I had not seen your question.

I think the image is better in the index but it is hard for me to say because I am sure that for someone with a 'standard' IPD it would look a lot clearer edge to edge than it does for me in the S. I have been setting up a rig for the kids using the S so put a little bit of time in that over the last day or two. I prefer the index by a good margin in my case.
 
Rift S has some SDE but compared to cv1 my eyes tell me it is maybe 25 to 30 % of CV1 - that is to say it is not a bother and the image is so much crisper plus I do not notice godrays anymore. I cannot speak to the Index but a good friend had both Index and RiftS and apart from the greater FOV he could not justify the big difference in cost and was happy with the Rift S so refunded the Index as the actual visuals were not worth the cost as you need a very powerful rig to run at higher FPS.

To me the great benefit of Rift S is the 80hz because for one, I do not detect the 10hz less image and I can run higher gfx settings with lower SS to get a beautiful image at basically no cost. I believe the high specs of the Index will be more beneficisl 2 or 3 yrs down the road when PC specs are hopefully much greater or more fully optimized for vr, just my opinion though.
 
blanes said:
Rift S has some SDE but compared to cv1 my eyes tell me it is maybe 25 to 30 % of CV1 - that is to say it is not a bother and the image is so much crisper plus I do not notice godrays anymore. I cannot speak to the Index but a good friend had both Index and RiftS and apart from the greater FOV he could not justify the big difference in cost and was happy with the Rift S so refunded the Index as the actual visuals were not worth the cost as you need a very powerful rig to run at higher FPS.

To me the great benefit of Rift S is the 80hz because for one, I do not detect the 10hz less image and I can run higher gfx settings with lower SS to get a beautiful image at basically no cost. I believe the high specs of the Index will be more beneficisl 2 or 3 yrs down the road when PC specs are hopefully much greater or more fully optimized for vr, just my opinion though.
Click to expand...

I would tend to agree that if the FOV is not going to win you over and if you are happy to use headphones with the S then the index is probably not worth the additional costs.

If you fall in to the group affected by the IPD then there is just no choice, live with a really degraded image or pay a bunch more. In NZ the index is not available and it cost a lot to get one over here. Trying one and sending it back isn't an option so for people in the same position I would just go for the insurance the index has over the rift with the adjustable IPD.
 
I am also considering getting an index. The only question is my PC creates the 130 degree FOV? I'm already fighting with my old Rift. 180 ss by medium and high settings. Of course the picture should be sharper. For real? How about the HTC Vive Pro?
 
The HP Reverb Pro is reportedly very nice for sim racing and flight sims. Anyone here have one or has tried racing sims in it ? It is a good price and supposed to have great visuals.
 
memoNo1 said:
I am also considering getting an index. The only question is my PC creates the 130 degree FOV? I'm already fighting with my old Rift. 180 ss by medium and high settings. Of course the picture should be sharper. For real? How about the HTC Vive Pro?
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The index and the vive pro have the same resolution so you will be pushing the same number of pixels. Until I got my index I have never been in the vive ecosystem but I have read a number of times that there is no reason to go vive pro over the index.
 
metalnwood said:
The index and the vive pro have the same resolution so you will be pushing the same number of pixels. Until I got my index I have never been in the vive ecosystem but I have read a number of times that there is no reason to go vive pro over the index.
Click to expand...


Is the picture quality a big difference to the old Rift? Apart from the 130 degrees FOV.
 
memoNo1 said:
Is the picture quality a big difference to the old Rift? Apart from the 130 degrees FOV.
Click to expand...

If you are meaning the cv1? It really is a big improvement for me. For instance, I was using pcars 2 last night, I picked it up because some friends were playing it and when I loaded it the screen was full of little pop ups with your position, lap times etc.. The text was quite small but easy to read. No way I would have read that without leaning in.

For myself the only negative is the occasional bad contrast I get which I think is to do with the lenses. Most things you forget about like that. I still notice when it happens but it doesnt bother me as it did when I first got it. It appears as if some things are getting washed out and I think it is something inherent in the lens design and reflections.
 
Comante said:
I'm looking into VR too, in my opinion, for Driving purpose, refresh rate IS a factor, just like it is on a monitor setup. Having said so, it is true that today you can't push 120 Hz out of the Index with current GPU and Software except as mentioned above, but things may vary in the upcoming years and I think that considering the cost, if you buy index you plan to use it for quite some time.
p.s. Just for the sake of talking, as a Flight sim user, my headset of choice at the moment is HP reverb, 90 Hz and higher resolution : 90 Hz for driving (coming from a 60 Hz monitor is a good step up) and higher res for flying.
Click to expand...


What if you run 2 RTX 2080 in SLI? could you run AC maxed out at 120hz and stuff?
 
momoracer said:
What if you run 2 RTX 2080 in SLI? could you run AC maxed out at 120hz and stuff?
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Well, SLI support pretty much died several years ago (don't shoot the messenger). The real bottleneck most times in the CPU and even with a top line CPU (i run an i7-7700k with 2080ti), i'm always CPU bound. There isn't a game out there that can max out settings in VR and not crush your CPU. The GPU is still important, but the CPU is killing us right now.

iRacing has done a good job implementing SPS which gives you another 20% headroom for NVIDIA cards, but right now they're the only ones doing this that I know of.
 
metalnwood said:
If you are meaning the cv1? It really is a big improvement for me. For instance, I was using pcars 2 last night, I picked it up because some friends were playing it and when I loaded it the screen was full of little pop ups with your position, lap times etc.. The text was quite small but easy to read. No way I would have read that without leaning in.

For myself the only negative is the occasional bad contrast I get which I think is to do with the lenses. Most things you forget about like that. I still notice when it happens but it doesnt bother me as it did when I first got it. It appears as if some things are getting washed out and I think it is something inherent in the lens design and reflections.
Click to expand...

With a 3950X and a 2080 super what sort of performance can I expect on the Index at 120hz? It will not be stable at 120hz in modern games like AC? I guess its doable with less fancy games like rfactor 2, but Dirt, AC... I guess not?

I cant decide between S and Index, and the others.. hopefully I can test some in a shop next year. I notice hz A LOT in monitors, the smoothness is obvious the higher hz you can play at, so I guess its the same for this in VR or even more important as the eye sits right next to the screens.

The thing is... you may think its nice that the valve index is a "long term investment" but by then there will be better headsets anyway, so im wondering if its worth it.

The increased fov, is still a factor. If I can play smoothly with better fov, even if my sacrifice hz to 90hz, then thats a plus. Also ive seen some people mention less screen door effect on index. And about fov, they mentioned that it makes a lot of difference specially in racing as you dont need to move your head all the time to look at the GUI (laps info, and other visual cues). You can also see the apex better, see cars approaching better, etc... fov is important. I dont want to have this effect of "looking throught googles", ive never tried VR but I predict fov is key.

Now on the lenses, this guy mentions some sort of annoying effect due the lenses this thing uses so this doesnt sound good..

 
tlsmikey said:
Well, SLI support pretty much died several years ago (don't shoot the messenger). The real bottleneck most times in the CPU and even with a top line CPU (i run an i7-7700k with 2080ti), i'm always CPU bound. There isn't a game out there that can max out settings in VR and not crush your CPU. The GPU is still important, but the CPU is killing us right now.

iRacing has done a good job implementing SPS which gives you another 20% headroom for NVIDIA cards, but right now they're the only ones doing this that I know of.
Click to expand...

Damn even modern cpus like 3950x with 16 cores? those are beasts
 
momoracer said:
I cant decide between S and Index, and the others
Click to expand...

2 important things to know about the Rift S that I have (faults/limits) :


1) There is no adjustable IPD.

It is very important not to be too far from the optimal IPD of the helmet.


2) The sound of the Rift without other equipment is unsatisfactory :

You have to buy a headset or earphones.
I took this and the sound is really good :
https://fr-fr.sennheiser.com/momentum-headphones-in-ear
 
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